Chapter Text
After Belos was defeated and the Boiling Isles were finally restored Hexside looked and felt different. Gone were the days of colour-coded tracks and rigid order. The school now stood as a symbol of what the Isles had become: freer, stranger, and a little more hopeful.
For Luz, Amity, Willow, and Gus, it was both strange and familiar to walk those halls again. The world had changed so much yet Hexside still smelled faintly of chalk dust, potion herbs, and cafeteria food.
And now, there was Hunter who was eagerly studying wild magic alongside them. Not as the Golden Guard, not as Belos’s nephew, not as a soldier- but just Hunter. A student.
He’d never gone to school before, only studied alone in his quarters at the emperor's castle. The first week had been an awkward blur of confusion and curiosity, of new classes, introductions, and Luz dragging him into every club she could think of.
He’d tried hard to fit in, to be normal, to understand the rhythm of everyday life that everyone else seemed to find so natural.
It wasn’t easy. He flinched when teachers raised their voices or when a student near him raised a hand too suddenly. He took notes with military precision as though each word were an order he’d be punished for missing. He still woke up at dawn out of habit.
But with time and the constant presence of his friends he’d started to breathe easier.
Today they would all start a project in photo class on memories and how to extract them.
Their professor, a purple bipedal demon, stood at the front of the room. “Now, class,” she said, her voice smooth and measured, “today we begin an important project.”
Several students murmured with excitement. Luz practically vibrated in her seat.
“The purpose,” she continued, “is to explore the relationship between memory and self. You’ll use your extraction tools to pull out physical manifestations of your memories from your mind in the form of polaroid images. Treat them carefully, these are not just photographs. They are fragments of your mind. Damage them, and you damage yourself,” She warned, “Now get to work! I have faith in all of you.”
Amity adjusted her seat, glancing at the tools on the desk. “Memory magic is… intense. Are we sure this is safe?”
Gus nodded quickly. “Yeah, because- uh- remember last time? When Willow’s memories got… you know… accidentally scorched?”
Willow groaned softly. “Gus…”
“No, I’m just saying!” he insisted, holding up his hands. “This project seems a lot more controlled than that was.”
Luz turned toward Willow, expression softening. “Right… that day when we went into your mind.”
Willow exhaled slowly. “It was awful. Every burned memory felt like a missing piece of myself. I didn’t know who my friends were. I didn’t even know why I felt so scared.” She gave Luz a small smile. “But we fixed it. Together.”
“Still,” Amity muttered, shooting a wary look at the tools, “I wouldn’t want a repeat of that.”
Willow nodded. “As long as no one starts burning things, we should be fine.”
Luz puffed out her chest confidently. “Then we’re totally safe! Who here would burn a memory?”
The tension dissolved and Gus clapped his hands together. “Okay! So, who’s going first?”
That was all Luz needed to hear.
“Oh! Oh! Can I go?” she said, bouncing on her chair.
Willow chuckled, picking up the shiny silver toothed clips “Sure thing, Luz. Just hold still, okay?”
“I was born ready!” Luz declared proudly.
Willow carefully inserted the delicate tool into her ear, pulling out an undeveloped picture. She then hung the image up before repeating the process a few more times. Five polaroids in total.
Now all five of them gathered around the string of images waiting for the colours to slowly bleed in before the pictures became clear.
The first image formed: Luz as a small child with a scraped knee, tears welling in her eyes as her mother pulled her into a comforting embrace.
“Ohhh,” Amity murmured. “She’s so tiny.”
Luz rubbed the back of her neck and smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, that was the day I tried to skateboard down a hill. It… did not end well.”
Then the second polaroid flickered into clarity: Luz hidden under her blanket late at night with her flashlight in hand, reading The Good Witch Azura with fierce determination despite the clock reading way past midnight.
Gus laughed. “Classic Luz.”
The third image appeared more slowly and both Luz and Amity went very still when it came into focus. It was the memory of their first kiss.
A blush rose to Amity’s cheeks immediately. Luz’s face went a similar shade of red, and the rest of their friends exchanged amused smiles.
At last the remaining two images came through. One of Luz learning the ice glyph at the knee, her expression bright with awe, and another of her standing triumphantly with her friends after Belos’s defeat, tears and smiles mingled.
Luz sighed happily, relishing for a moment longer in the nostalgia, before speaking. “Okay,” she said. “Your turn, Amity!”
Amity rolled her eyes but smiled as she sat down. “Fine, but don’t laugh if mine are embarrassing.”
Luz placed the tool carefully in her hand. “I wouldn't dream of it.”
The first polaroid that appeared showed Amity as a small child with abomination goop mittens on her hands, preventing her from fidgeting and awarding her a teasing family nickname. Her hair was brown still but her eyes were just as sharp.
“Aw,” Luz cooed immediately, clasping her hands. “You were so adorable!”
“Luz!” Amity groaned, but her ears had gone pink.
The next one revealed Amity and Willow as children, a bittersweet image, back before their falling out. They were laughing, carefree.
Willow’s expression softened. “I… remember that day,” she said quietly.
Amity smiled sadly. “Me too. I’m glad it’s still a good memory.”
The third and fourth images showed moments of sibling chaos, Emira and Edric smearing purple abomination goo on her uniform, all three of them dissolving into laughter.
The final polaroid glowed faintly violet before fading into a picture of Amity holding Luz’s hand under the starry sky with their foreheads touching. The others politely looked away, though Luz was smiling dreamily.
“Okay, okay,” Amity said, trying (and failing) to hide her grin. “Enough of me. Gus, your turn.”
Gus’s memories came out brighter than anyone’s, shimmering with illusion magic that almost made the images move.
The first polaroid showed him and his dad laughing together over breakfast. The next was him and Willow as kids, long before they had met Luz. Then came one of Gus performing his first illusion, his eyes filled with pure astonishment as he fell in love with the magic.
When it was Willow’s turn, the tone softened again. Her memories came in warm shades of green and gold- her garden thriving, her Flyer Derby team celebrating, her arms around her friends.
Hunter smiled at that, he couldn’t help it.
Then another one of the polaroids came into focus, Willow and Hunter sitting together under the shade of a large tree in the human realm and sunlight filtering through the leaves as she wove flowers into his hair. His smile in the image was contagious.
Willow laughed softly. “Oh Titan, I remember that. You sat so still. I thought you’d fallen asleep.”
“I… might’ve,” Hunter admitted with a small grin.
The moment passed with gentle laughter but then all eyes turned to him and he froze.
“So,” Luz said after a pause, “that just leaves you, Hunter!”
The words hit harder than they should have.
After he didn’t respond he felt Willow’s hand lightly brush his shoulder. “You don’t have to if you’re uncomfortable,” she said gently. “It’s just a project. I’m sure you can skip this one.”
But something inside him twisted- pride, maybe, or guilt. He didn’t want to be the one who had to sit out because he couldn’t handle it the same as everyone else, and he didn’t want to be the one who ruined the fun either.
“It’s fine,” he lied, brushing her off.
She gave him a look of concern- trying to read the expression on his face, but said nothing.
Hunter took the extractor from the desk. His fingers trembled slightly, but he steadied them before sliding the device into his ear.
The first undeveloped polaroid came free and he clipped it on an empty string before repeating the process four more times, until five blank squares sat in front of them.
The group leaned in, curious.
The first memory developed easily, a small red palisman perched on Hunter’s shoulder. Flapjack chirped something, and Hunter’s expression was one of pure, unguarded joy.
Luz smiled. “That’s adorable.”
The second photo showed him and the emerald entrails cheering together after winning their first game, all of them beaming.
“That was a really fun day.” Willow said, and Gus nodded agreement.
But the third polaroid took longer to process. The colours seeped in unevenly, too dark, too slow. Shapes took form: a stone hallway, Belos’ shadow stretching across the floor, a hand clutching Hunter’s shoulder. Hunter’s stomach dropped. The atmosphere shifted. The group grew quiet.
Luz glanced nervously at him but before anyone could say anything, Hunter reached for the next photo. It was still blank, still only beginning to take form.
But the moment he caught a glimpse of what was coming into focus- that sharp outline, that familiar room- his face went pale.
He snatched the photo off of the line before anyone could see it.
“Hunter?” Willow’s voice was soft and uncertain.
“It’s nothing,” he said quickly, shoving the undeveloped image into his pocket and glancing at the floor, averting her gaze.
No one spoke for a moment. The air felt heavier now, the quiet hum of the classroom filling the space where laughter had just been. And as they sat quietly the last image became visible.
Flapjack being crushed by Hunter’s own hand as Belos controlled his body. They all winced at the painful memory and Hunter’s expression went blank as his mind completely disconnected from his body.
He hated himself for ruining what should have been a fun moment for all of them, for letting the memories that haunt his nightmares claw their way to the surface at such an inconvenient time.
“Are you okay Hunter?” whispered Luz, so gently as if she thought he might crack and fall apart at any moment.
Hunter tried to force a smile but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Let’s just finish up,” he said hoarsely and he forced his voice steady. “Class is almost over anyways.”